Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Trading 0.2% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s stock price traded up 0.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $250.39 and last traded at $250.18. 23,543,517 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 57,166,891 shares. The stock had previously closed at $249.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $265.00 target price on shares of Apple in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Maxim Group increased their price target on shares of Apple from $203.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Apple from $186.00 to $184.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $300.00 price target on shares of Apple in a report on Friday, November 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $236.78.

Apple Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $234.97 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.70. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.51. The firm has a market cap of $3.85 trillion, a PE ratio of 41.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.23.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The iPhone maker reported $1.64 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.04. Apple had a net margin of 23.97% and a return on equity of 152.94%. The business had revenue of $94.93 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $94.52 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.46 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apple Inc. will post 7.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, November 14th. Investors of record on Monday, November 11th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 8th. Apple’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 16.45%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Timothy D. Cook sold 223,986 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $224.46, for a total transaction of $50,275,897.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 3,280,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $736,269,202.80. The trade was a 6.39 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Katherine L. Adams sold 61,019 shares of Apple stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $226.20, for a total transaction of $13,802,497.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 187,043 shares in the company, valued at $42,309,126.60. This trade represents a 24.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 508,170 shares of company stock valued at $117,004,745 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.06% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bull Oak Capital LLC grew its holdings in Apple by 252.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bull Oak Capital LLC now owns 155 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Hershey Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Apple by 88.9% in the 3rd quarter. Christopher J. Hasenberg Inc now owns 306 shares of the iPhone maker’s stock valued at $69,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. SPX Gestao de Recursos Ltda acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America acquired a new position in shares of Apple in the 3rd quarter valued at about $77,000. 67.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Apple

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.